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Description

The Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices (MYD13Q1) Version 6.1 data are generated every 16 days at 250 meter (m) spatial resolution as a Level 3 product. The MYD13Q1 product provides two primary vegetation layers. The first is the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) which is referred to as the continuity index to the existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA-AVHRR) derived NDVI. The second vegetation layer is the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), which has improved sensitivity over high biomass regions. The algorithm chooses the best available pixel value from all the acquisitions from the 16 day period. The criteria used is low clouds, low view angle, and the highest NDVI/EVI value.

Along with the vegetation layers and the two quality layers, the HDF file will have MODIS reflectance bands 1 (red), 2 (near-infrared), 3 (blue), and 7 (mid-infrared), as well as four observation layers.

Known Issues

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6.1 vegetation indices data products: (1) Version 6.1 Level-1B (L1B) products have been improved by undergoing various calibration changes that include: changes to the response-versus-scan angle (RVS) approach that affects reflectance bands for Aqua and Terra MODIS, corrections to adjust for the optical crosstalk in Terra MODIS infrared (IR) bands, and corrections to the Terra MODIS forward look-up table (LUT) update for the period 2012 – 2017, and (2) A polarization correction has been applied to the L1B Reflective Solar Bands (RSB).

Product Summary

Platforms
Aqua
Instruments
MODIS
Projects
Aqua
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
250 Meters x 250 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
MODIS Sinusoidal Tiling System
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2002-07-04 to Present
Temporal Resolution
16 Day
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) ,
MODIS Adaptive Processing System, Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/MODAPS)
Concept ID
C2307290656-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
160285
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Vegetation Index ,
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) ,
Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Didan, K. (2021). MODIS/Aqua Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 250m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD13Q1.061 Date Accessed: 2026-07-07

File Naming Convention

MYD13Q1.A2025201.h21v00.061.2025217235651.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MYD13Q1) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025201), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h21v00), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025217235651), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Rapid recovery of ecosystem function following extreme drought in a Wilcox, Kevin R., Koerner, Sally E., Hoover, David L., Borkenhagen, Andrea K., Burkepile, Deron E., Collins, Scott L., Hoffman, Ava M., Kirkman, Kevin P., Knapp, Alan K., Strydom, Tercia, Thompson, Dave I., Smith, Melinda D. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Seasonality and Budgets of Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions From a Tropical CalvoRodriguez, Sofia, Kiese, Ralf, SanchezAzofeifa, G. Arturo Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatiotemporal dynamics of the vegetation in Ningxia, China using MODIS imagery He, Yi, Yan, Haowen, Ma, Lei, Zhang, Lifeng, Qiu, Lisha, Yang, Shuwen Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
The biogeography of ecoregions: Descriptive power across regions and Smith, Jeffrey R., Hendershot, J. Nicholas, Nova, Nicole, Daily, Gretchen C. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatiotemporal variations of albedo in managed agricultural landscapes: inferences to global warming impacts (GWI) Sciusco, Pietro, Chen, Jiquan, Abraha, Michael, Lei, Cheyenne, Robertson, G. Philip, Lafortezza, Raffaele, Shirkey, Gabriela, Ouyang, Zutao, Zhang, Rong, John, Ranjeet Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance
Spatial and temporal characteristics and driving forces of vegetation changes in the Huaihe River basin from 2003 to 2018 Liu, Zhenzhen, Wang, Hang, Li, Ning, Zhu, Jun, Pan, Ziwu, Qin, Fen Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Total Surface Precipitation Rate
Siberian silkmoth outbreaks surpassed geoclimatic barrier in Siberian Mountains Kharuk, Viacheslav I., Im, Sergei T., Soldatov, Vladimir V. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatio-temporal assessment of beech growth in relation to climate extremes in Slovenia - An integrated approach using remote sensing and tree-ring data Decuyper, Mathieu, Chavez, Roberto O., Cufar, Katarina, Estay, Sergio A., Clevers, Jan G.P.W., Prislan, Peter, Gricar, Jozica, Crepinsek, Zalika, Merela, Maks, de Luis, Martin, Notivoli, Roberto Serrano, del Castillo, Edurne Martinez, Rozendaal, Danae M.A., Bongers, Frans, Herold, Martin, Sass-Klaassen, Ute Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Soil moisture retrievals using ALOS2-ScanSAR and MODIS synergy over Tibetan Plateau Wang, Hongquan, Magagi, Ramata, Goita, Kalifa, Wang, Ke Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatiotemporal patterns and drivers of the surface urban heat island in 36 major cities in ChinaA comparison of two different methods for delineating rural areas Niu, Lu, Tang, Ronglin, Jiang, Yazhen, Zhou, Xiaoming Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Using Metabolic Energy Density Metrics to Understand Differences in Wiesner, Susanne, Stoy, Paul C., Staudhammer, Christina L., Starr, Gregory Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Variations and climate constraints of terrestrial net primary productivity over Mongolia Bao, Gang, Tuya, Alateng, Bayarsaikhan, Sainbuyan, Dorjsuren, Altantuya, Mandakh, Urtnasan, Bao, Yuhai, Li, Chunlan, Vanchindorj, Batsaikhan Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Variations of vegetation phenology extracted from remote sensing data over the Tibetan Plateau Hinterland during 20002014 Liu, Ya, Wang, Junbang, Dong, Jinwei, Wang, Shaoqiang, Ye, Hui Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
A classification scheme to determine wildfires from the satellite record in the cool grasslands of southern CanadaConsiderations for fire occurrence modelling and warning criteria Thompson, Dan K., Morrison, Kimberly Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Fire Occurrence, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES
Daily minimum temperature and precipitation control on spring phenology in arid-mountain ecosystems in China Du, Jun, Li, Kai, He, Zhibin, Chen, Longfei, Lin, Pengfei, Zhu, Xi Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Development of a global 30 m impervious surface map using multisource and multitemporal remote sensing datasets with the Google Earth Engine platform Zhang, Xiao, Liu, Liangyun, Wu, Changshan, Chen, Xidong, Gao, Yuan, Xie, Shuai, Zhang, Bing Urban Lands, Land Use/Land Cover, Urbanization/Urban Sprawl, Infrastructure, Human Settlements, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Ecohydrological responses to surface flow across bordersTwo decades of changes in vegetation greenness and water use in the riparian corridor of the Colorado River delta Nagler, Pamela L., BarretoMunoz, Armando, Chavoshi Borujeni, Sattar, Jarchow, Christopher J., GomezSapiens, Martha M., Nouri, Hamideh, Herrmann, Stefanie M., Didan, Kamel Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Agricultural soybean and corn calendar based on moderate resolution satellite images for southern Brazil Becker, Willyan Ronaldo, Richetti, Jonathan, Mercante, Erivelto, Esquerdo, Julio Cesar Dalla Mora, Silva Junior, Carlos Antonio da, Paludo, Alex, Johann, Jerry Adriani Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Ability of remote sensing systems to detect bark beetle spots in the southeastern US Gomez, Demian F., Ritger, Haley M.W., Pearce, Christopher, Eickwort, Jeffrey, Hulcr, Jiri Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
A Nonparametric Statistical Technique for Spatial Downscaling of Mei, Yiwen, Maggioni, Viviana, Houser, Paul, Xue, Yuan, Rouf, Tasnuva Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo, Anisotropy, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Assessing trends and predicting the cover management factor in a tropical island state using Enhanced Vegetation Index Melville, Tricia, Sutherland, Michael, Wuddivira, Mark N. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Artificial light at night is related to broad-scale stopover distributions of nocturnally migrating landbirds along the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico Cabrera-Cruz, Sergio A., Cohen, Emily B., Smolinsky, Jaclyn A., Buler, Jeffrey J. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Application of Improved Remotely Sensed Drought Severity Index Based on Wang, Lusha, Kotani, Ayumi, Tanaka, Takafumi, Ohta, Takeshi Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Assimilation of satellite-derived soil moisture for improved forecasts of the Great Plains low-level jet Ferguson, Craig R., Agrawal, Shubhi, Beauharnois, Mark C., Xia, Geng, Burrows, D. Alex, Bosart, Lance F. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Brightness Temperature, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance
Capturing the impact of the 2018 European drought and heat across different vegetation types using OCO-2 solar-induced fluorescence Shekhar, Ankit, Chen, Jia, Bhattacharjee, Shrutilipi, Buras, Allan, Castro, Antony Oswaldo, Zang, Christian S., Rammig, Anja Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
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